NOTES ON THE WAR

Dominion, Volume 7, Issue 2267, 29 September 1914, Page 4

NOTES ON THE WAR

Perhaps the most obvious inference to be drawn from fco-day's messages is that suggested by the Press Association itself: that the dearth of details of the fighting in Franco is an indication that a critical stage of the battle is approaching. We are given the cheerful intelligence thai; marked progress has been made against the German Right, and that elsewhere matters remain much as they were. Yet if we take tho new localities introduced as scenes of recent fighting, the Allies would appear to have made distinct progress south as well as north of the Aisne. Sommepy and Vouzicrs are well away to the east of Reims and many miles to the north of the position along which the Allies' line stretching from west to east to the fortress of Verdun was supposed to he operating. It is a puzzling situation, and no doubt it is made so with intent. We must continue to rest content with, the hints we have been given as to the general sta,te •.. nf affairs, which on _ the whole must be regarded as distinctly satisfactory. The German" reinforcements which have been .hurried through Belgium are an indication of the • pressure that is being exercised by the Allies' Left Wing. Probably these new forces come Alsace and Lorraine, in which case we may learn shortly of a further French advance in that_ quarter Us the result of tho weakening of the German lines of defence. • '

At the moment of writing there 'is nothing to hand to show how- tho big battle on the borders of East Prussia is progressing. Here General Kennenkahpf, following on his forced retirement from Allenstein in East Prussia-, has been manoeuvring his troops with considerable success. At Ohorzcle, at Mlawa, and more recently at Suwalki and Lomza, in , - Russian Poland, he has repulsed German attacks and has now.secured an advantageous position in which to give battle. It is that the rc,sulfc of tliis battle will bs of great importance, although .up to tho present we have boon led to believe that the forces at this point were comparatively small. Possibly.the imjiprtance of tho struggle here lies in fcho fact that an important -line of railway, now used no doubt for the transport of Russian troops, is threatened bv the German advance on Grodno. In Ga-licia the Russians continue their victorious advance against the fortified city of Przemysl, and there are good hopes of a speedy capture.

Well-meaning people have wasted, a lot of time and effort since the war began in seeking to popularise a theory that while England is' at war with Germany she is not, or not wholly, at war with the German people. It" speaks volumes lor the good sense of the people of the British Empire that this strange doctrine has usually been received with little favour. There was a notable case in point- some weeks ago when a civic . dignitary : drew down a storm of indignation on his head by expressing a hope that nothing would be said during {he war which would hinder, the restoration of harmonious relations with the German people after the war- was over. • Intelligent-- Germans hive themselves scornfully repudiated the idea that the Triple Entente is making war, not on a homogeneous Germany, but on an oppressed_ and tyranny-ridden Germay in which the mass of the people play the part of ; thralls to the Kaiser and h_is_ War Lords. Such a German, writing a few weeks ago to an American paper, took as the text of his remarks: "Only One Germany," and argued ■ph>asurably enough that it was impossible to separate German militarism from the mass of the population who give body and sha'jjs to German military designs. It may be true, though the German in question would certainly not have admitted it, that the present war may ultimately prove to be one of liberation for tho great mass of the German people, but meantime it is impossible to regard them as a paseiye aggregation of human beings awaiting liberation. They can'only be rejgarded as what they are—the strength and support of a Government lustful of conquest which is seeking to devastate and dominate. Europe.

Although it was fed in the early days of the war with, stories t of blandly inoffensive German soldiers who were rather pleased than- otherwise to be captured, and had only vague ideas as to what they were fighting about, it is probable that the conception of the German people, as mere dupes and pawns of their Kaiser and his /War Party never had any very substantial foundation in,fact. A much more plausible accpiint of the attitude of the German nation is given by a London Times correspondent who claims to have had exceptional facilities for studyins, the development of German'sentiment from '1870 onwards. He declares that underneath a surface appearance of peaceful and friendly feeling towards Englishmen Germans have for many years nourished a deep and general animosity against England as o Power, "Dur.

'ing the last twenty years," he remarks, "the enormous industrial and commercial expansion, the growth of population, power, and wealth, the creation of a great mercantile marine and of a great Navy have imbued the whole nation with the same arrogance _ (as previously distinguished the- military class). From top to bottom it has been suffering from swollen head and the Kaiser's case is not singular, but typical." Germany's attempt of to-day may, therefore, be regarded as the fulfilment of a general and familiar national aspiration. The Germans considered themselves quite strong enough to fight France and Russia together, but it was not intended to tackle Britain until later on. The failure of the German programme which is now certain,, the correspondent remarks, will provoke a tremendous reaction in which the unhappy Kaiser ■. will be overwhelmed by popular fury. Hβ is to blame, but so are all who would have welcomed success. It is the failure they will resent, not the intention.

"Germans must lea-ve no living Frenchman behind." These are the concluding words of an order given to his troops by a German general, so the Bordeaux correspondent of a, London paper tells us. This general tells his men to put to the sword all falling into their hands, and to kill the wounded whether armed or unarmed. Such monstrous instructions set , at defiance all the laws of civilised warfare. It may seem incredible that such orders should be given, but has not Germany from the outset shown her contempt for all the recognised rules of war 1 This sort of brutality scorns to be regarded in the highest quarters in Germany, not as something shameful, but ae a virtue, calculated to'impress the enemy with the might of German power. This general who is reported to have ordered his soldiers to slaughter their prisoners and the wounded is not striking out in a new line on his own account. He Is simply following a precedent set by the Kaiser himself. In a recently issued book, entitled Germany and Good Faith, by E. H. C. Oliphant, the Kaiser's instructions to the German troops prior to their departure for China to take part in the joint expedition ap-ainst Peking arc recorded as follow:—

"No quarter will be given, no prisoners taken. AH who fall into your Lands shall be at your mercy. Jiist as tho Huns 1000 years ago,- under the leadership of Attila, gained the reputation for sternness in virtue of which Chey still live, bo may the namo of Germany become .known in such a way in China thafc> no Chinaman liercnfter may dare so, much as to look askance at a German." v These were the Kaiser's orders, and it is stated that they were thoroughly obeyed. ' The methods now being practised against France and Belgium have not quite reached the "no quarter" stage, but they have been such as will make the name of Germany a by-word , amongst the nations of the world.,'